*By submitting your contribution, you agree to TCM's Terms of Use. TCM will use your personal information consistent with our Privacy Policy

• Panic in the year zero

  • Fred C. Wilson III
  • 12/21/12

  I loved this movie! Not only was it entertaining but it was a learning expereince of how people should conduct themselves in the event of major castrophie. Splendid movie with a good cast!

• surprise, surprise

  • r
  • 12/21/12

  Certainly one of the better 50's 'gloom & doom' genre. Gee, even Frankie Avalon does pretty well! The scenes of the family, recklessly towing their camper, are pretty tense. The premise & the execution of the screenplay are above average for the time period.

• Very Entertaining Movie

  • Patrick
  • 7/24/12

  This movie is underrated, yes it can be corny and slow, but the overall story is great. There needs to be a modern remake of this. See what today's American's would do, and how the race card would be revelent. Would people today be worse? Would the aftermath of a nuclear attack be more devestating today? You bet. Some great lines that would never be allowed, Frankie Avalon the son (Ray Milland is the father) is asked to light him a cigarette, he also takes a toke before giving it to Dad. In the cave Dad talks about trying to remain as civilized as possible, and for son to keep shaving. As if being in a nuclear attack shaving is important. Great trip down memory lane and how we use to think, and act. Times have changed.

• Nearly Prophetic Doomsday Thriller

  • Bruce Reber
  • 1/8/10

  "Panic In Year Zero"(1962), a chilling story of a family's fight for survival after a nuclear war, came out about 3 months before the Cuban Missile Crisis - at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, when everyone knew that the end of the world could happen at any minute. It was a time when people were building fallout shelters and having air raid drills (I don't remember too much about it, since I was only 4 years old at the time). "Panic In Year Zero" nearly played itself out for real in October 1962 when we learned the Soviets had brought nuclear missiles into Cuba and were intending to annihilate the U.S., which would ultimately lead to global destruction. Although the depiction of what happens in the film is probably different from how it would actually be in a post-nuclear environment, it's still a very scary and effective "End Of The World" film.

• fire in the road!

  • Ed Haas
  • 12/26/09

  so many memorable scenes, but I too (like Gary) remember Ray battling traffic to get away and dousing the highway with gasoline to make a lane. Perhaps it was all the family camping we did that made this film connect - one of the formative films of my childhood (figure that one!) Ray robs the hardware store and goes Rambo to save his family. Who can forget the radio broadcast at the end when someone (the President?) announces that from now on the year will be called year zero. Thanks TCM for bringing my childhood back - could "Altantis the Lost Continent" be far behind?!?

• oops - AIP

  • Gary Warner
  • 4/15/06

  Meant AIP, not AFI. Big dif.

• Scared me as a kid

  • Gary Warner
  • 4/15/06

  Viewed as an adult, this AFI flick has a lot of cheapy aspects and scenery-chewing bits. But as a kid growing up in the LA area, I can remember it scared the hell out of me when it appeared on the old "Million Dollar Movie" on TV every now and again. The scene where Milland spreads gas across a crowded highway and set it on fire so he can get his family through to safety was especially memorable. A premium bit of Cold War paranoia.

• More Reviews